Abstract

The functional food and beverage market offers substantial new product opportunities for food, beverage andpharmaceutical companies. Although the prevalence of functional foods and beverages has increased over the past number of years, product failure rates remain high. Today the process of developing new ingredients and products startswith the consumer. Generating consumer insights aids in the development of in-depth knowledge of the underlying needsand values of the consumer which is key to maximising consumer acceptance. Companies that wish to increase their likelihood of NPD success need to examine current mega-trends and sub-trends – translated into consumer insights – toguide the complex and risky process of developing new products.